#Award-Winning Single-Take Short Film

[unspokenmantra]

"Keep singing"

NURSERY RHYMES [short movie]

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

Janet Jackson featuring Q-Tip and Joni Mitchell - Got 'til It's Gone 1997

"Got 'til It's Gone" is a song by American singer Janet Jackson, featuring American rapper Q-Tip and Canadian singer Joni Mitchell, from her sixth studio album, The Velvet Rope (1997). It was released as the lead single from The Velvet Rope, and Jackson opted for a less polished sound for it which resulted in an authentic blend of R&B, pop, and hip hop with traces of reggae influences. It contains a sample from Joni Mitchell's 1970 song "Big Yellow Taxi".

"Got 'til It's Gone" was met with mostly positive reviews from music critics, with most praising its fusion of Jackson's pop style with hip hop, and for its revealing theme. The song peaked at number 36 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart and reached number three on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. Internationally, "Got 'til It's Gone" reached the top 20 in several European markets, including France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, and the UK.

The accompanying music video for "Got 'til It's Gone" was directed by Mark Romanek and filmed at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, and was premiered right before the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards. Jackson portrays a lounge singer in the video, which takes place during the time of apartheid in South Africa. It was called a masterpiece by critics, winning a Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video. It also received the most nominations at the seventh annual MVPA Awards, winning "Pop Video of the Year" and "Best Art Direction".

"Got 'til It's Gone" received a total of 55,4% yes votes.

[absolutebl]

Best & Worst BLs of 2023

My Top 15 BLs of 2023 are (in order)

1 Our Dating Sim

Korea Viki

Nerds in love, deadlines, gaming, teasing, pining tiny idiots, casual affection, linguistic oops, ADORABLE. If you haven't watched this, it's a must. A perfect short form KBL, an office set reunion romance featuring geeks that really suits 8 eps with no fluff and no chaff. Just comforting and yummy.

I adored every aspect from the casting to the pristinely simple premise to the quietly smooth execution. Sure it’s low stakes, but that makes it high domesticity and extremely warm and gentle. This is a fuzzy blanket of a story - a cozy BL. It lives in my rewatch pile and you know what’s best about it? Every single episode is in that pile. There’s no skipping with this one, it might be good natured and calmly sweet but it’s tight and the pacing is excellent.

Also recieves my 2023 award for best giggle.

2 I Cannot Reach You

AKA I Can't Reach You AKA Kimi ni wa Todokanai

Japan Netflix

This classic friends-to-lovers BL is everything Japan does best. Angsty. Emo. Aching. Driven by real thirst. Yamato is deeply in love with his childhood bestie, Kakeru, and has been for ages, unable to hide his ungainly damaging high school need. He wants Kakeru in every way possible and it oozes off of the screen.

Kakeru is silly and a little simple, but not frenetic or overly camp about it. He is earnest, and genuinely wants to keep Yamato in his life which means giving a romance (and gayness) a fair chance. We watch him realize his affection and what form it can take in a truly authentic way.

This show was impossibly kind to both of its lead characters and I felt almost honored that I got to watch something so lovely and rare play out on my screen.

Also wins the best thirst award.

These were the 2 BLs that got 10/10 from me in 2023. The rest of these got 9/10 from me.

3 My School President

Thailand YouTube

GMMTV gave us a classic high school set Thai BL with tropes like messy boys singing their feelings that made this one Love Sick for the modern age with all the gentle sweetness and pining ache, but none of the dated damaging tropes or issues. Who let my BL be this wholesome and funny? My favourite GMMTV BL offering to date. And yes, I've watched them ALL.

Received the Namgoong award for best wingman 2023.

4 I Feel You Linger in the Air

Thailand grey

IFYLITA is an exquisite BL, from filming techniques to narrative framework. Steeped in history and family drama this is an elegant and classy BL. The main couple (both as a pair and individuals) were excellent, particularly Bright (Yai) whose eye-work acting style is a personal favorite of mine. It's a marker of how great it was that it's so high on my list despite the ending which was very much not what I wanted.

Additional accolade, sexiest moment of 2023 - (the oil scene).

You could try to fight me, but you'll have no grip.

5 Kiseki: Dear to Me

Taiwan Gaga & Viki

The plot is totally ridiculous and slightly unhinged. There’s a gum-ball machine of cameos, elder gay rep, great chemistry from all pairs (everyone is queer), and a KILLER side couple. It involves all the tropes under a very offhand framework of gay mafia gangs + food = love. As a result Kiseki is a poster child for Taiwanese BL, and I happen to love Taiwanese BL. Bonus? They also managed to END IT WELL, which we cannot expect from Taiwan.

Best side couple 2023!

(thank goodness Taiwan made this list!)

6 Jun and Jun

Korea Viki

A delightful office romance about an ex-idol who joins cubical life only to find his new boss is his first love. With a snappy (sometimes even raunchy) script, enjoyable sides, a pretty as peaches cast, and descent chemistry this show made up for in style what it lacked in substance. I like fluff. I loved this. I smiled every moment I was watching.

Best flirting 2023.

AKA "the tongue knows" award

7 The Eighth Sense

Korea Viki

This one is a bit chewy and sticky and less perfect than most KBLs. It’s got a bit of an age gap, country boy/city boy, stellar acting, complex characters, and leads with great chemistry and tension. This isn’t in the KBL bubble, there’s sharp edges and lots of triggers. For a BL the darkness of the content left me feeling unsettled (which is the only reason it didn't get a perfect score) but it has a glorious ending and that counts for a lot.

2023's most likely to appeal to non-BL watchers.

8 Unintentional Love Story

Korea iQIYI

The lead, Gongchan (maknae of B1A4) is a fucking GIFT, who carried this show. He was luminous with extraordinarily expressive eyes, which he used to carry a killer plot and challenging role. Forced into a totally understandable betrayal, falling in love despite himself, put into a corner he can't get out of, the AGONY, the eyes EMOTING at us in PAIN. Driven by external conflict, social tension and pressure this story seems simple but it's actually refined and quite complex. I loved this show.

Best story structure 2023.

9 My Personal Weatherman

AKA Taikan Yoho

Japan Gaga

This is classic yaoi of the kind that really only works from Japan. Basically: boys who fell in love in college end up living together but both are so repressed they actually don't realize they're in love. It's high heat is well done, but it leaned into the "why don't they just talk for fuck's sake?" which is exacerbated by the fact that they're already fucking. Sure is sexy tho.

Best use of props 2023 for the shower of sheets.

10 Our Dining Table

AKA Bokura no Shokutaku

Japan Gaga

Lonely salaryman and talented cook gets accidentally adopted by a college kid and his little brother. It’s a quiet & cozy little parable of found family alleviating loneliness. It's lovely & sweet with the romance beats used to build a family relationship, not just couple intimacy. Special.

First prize for domesticity.

11 Laws of Attraction

Thailand iQIYI

This is a great gay suspense thriller with several solid couples, fun plot, killer characters, queer rep, and a happy ending. It’s tons of fun and I had an absolute blast watching it.

Charn wins my favorite character of 2023.

12 La Pluie

Thailand Viki

This BL takes to task the fated mates trope and what it means to have love chained intimately to predestination. It’s about how faith in destiny before choice diminishes the authenticity of emotion, relationships, and connection. This is a high concept to examine through the lens of a BL. With good chemistry and decent acting all around, plus some excellent high heat and representation of consent and a few other rare tropes, this one has to (like it’s sibling show My Ride) earn high marks.

Most interesting concept 2023.

13 The New Employee

Korea Viki

So good, SO QUEER, so soft, a near pitch perfect office BL with conflict derived from that setting. Also found family and a lesbian bestie. This is what I wanted from this new crop of office set KBLs ALL ALONG. Rainbow rice cakes forever!

Best overall queer rep from Korea.

14 Step By Step

Thailand Gaga & YouTube & Viki

This was Thailand’s answer to The New Employee, and everything I loved about that show I loved about this one. This was an office romance between stern boss and sweet subordinate that felt more authentic to an office environment than previous Thai BLs of this ilk which added tension to the narrative and character development.

Chot wins best queer character 2023.

15 Love Tractor

Korea iQIYI

Most of this country-set BL had me feral for the beautiful broken city boy and his hot young farmer. Hyung romance, puppy/cat pairing, open frankness meets jaded reserve, language play, water hose frolicking, only one bed = all my favorite silly tropes.

Biggest "he so pretty" gasp of the year award.

10 Worst BLs of 2023 (that I watched)

My Blessing

My Universe: Casanova Begins

Boyband the series

Cafe In Love

Chains of Heart

Hit Bite Love

Only Friends

Senior Love Me

The Luminous Solution

The Promise

Yes, you read that right. I know I'm against the flow but I really did not like Only Friends. Everyone's taste is different.

However I DNFed faster and more BL's this year than ever before, so that means my 10 worst probably aren't quite reflective...

10 Probably Actually Worst BLs (I dropped 'em)

My Story

The Day I Loved You

Beyond the Star

Crazy Handsome Rich

Dinosaur Love

House of Stars

Mr Cinderella 2

Love Bill

Stormy Honeymoon

The Star Always Follow You

Codicils in General

I only carefully track/watch Thailand, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. Other countries are not fully represented.

My Numbers

So my spreadsheet chronicled 138 BLs that finish airing in 2023.

101 = watched & reviewed

2 = still in the docket (WDYEY2 & Love Syndrome III)

15 = CNF (could not find)

20 = DNF (which also accounts for how few very low scores I handed out in 2023 as opposed to previous years, I just stopped watching). Speaking of which...

Ratings spread

(# of stars. #of BLs given that rating)

0 (see the DNFs instead)

2 - IT'S DEPRESSING they killed the gay, save yourself

7 - I DON'T KNOW WHAT I AM WATCHING AND NEITHER DOES IT

7 - FATALLY FLAWED but still basically BL, however… do we want to support this kind of behavior?

9 - WATCH IF YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO but don’t expect much, it’s a total hot mess

17 - WORTH WATCHING BUT FLAWED probably around the ending or in narrative structure/cohesion or censorship

14 - RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS i.e. isn’t quite BL, convoluted, not strictly HEA, too short/long, or chemistry issues

30 - RECOMMENDED some concerns around tropes (like dub con) or story structure but still satisfies as BL

13 - ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED probably a few pacing issues or one flaw

2 - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED faithful to tropes, happy ending, good chemistry, few flaws, high rewatch potential

(source)

[racefortheironthrone]

Any chance you have seen and/or have thoughts on Across the Spider-Verse?

I literally just got back from Across the Spider-Verse and sat down at my computer, so this is about as fresh as a take as I can manage.

Short version: it's an astonishingly and relentlessly ambitious film that aims to outdo every other Spider-Man movie, every other multi-verse movie, and even its own first entry in the Miles Morales trilogy. And it succeeds.

Full spoilers below the cut. You have been warned.

The Visuals

Before I get into anything about the story, I want to first give full credit to the directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemo Powers, Justin K. Thompson, and the entire team at Sony Pictures Animation. If you saw the first Spider-Verse movie and aren't an animation nerd, you probably were impressed but didn't realize how revolutionary it was. I'll let Movies With Mikey explain the details, because it's easier if you can see what people are talking about:

When your first entry wins an Academy Award by thumbing your nose at Pixar, the reigning king of animation, and the principles of animation set down by the Nine Old Men, you have every right to sit back on your laurels.

For Across the Spider-Verse, the Sony Pictures Animation team clearly decided: fuck that. If the first film had wowed audiences by combining a half-dozen styles of animation on the screen at the same time, the second film would drown you in dozens and dozens of Spiders-Men and -Women (and -Animals) drawn in every style imaginable: Da Vinci's yellowing parchments and sketchy penicls, harsh cell-shading, punk rock collage art, 90s-style comic panels full of impossibly rippling muscles, crappy hand-drawn animation from the 1967 tv show, and then for a tip of the hat to Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the man who should have been Spider-Man - live action.

The backgrounds show the same love: from the off-set printing of Miles' world (my favorite detail is that you know that Miles gets sent to the wrong Earth when the color scheme shifts from purple to green), to the dripping painterly pastels of the Gweniverse, to the riotous greens and yellows of Mumbattan, to the clean Pixaresque light blooms of the Spider-Society's technological utopia (which looks a hell of a lot like something out of Brad Bird's dreams).

I am thoroughly in awe of the mentality behind the animation in this film, the absolute determination to challenge one's own limits and exceed one's past accomplishments.

The Story

If there is a single world that defines Across the Spider-Verse, it's "canon." The moment Miguel O'Hara uttered that word, my spidey-senses started tingling and I realized that Lord & Miller came to this film with a sermon. See, if there's one message from the first Spider-Verse movie it's that "anyone can be Spider-Man." But if there's two messages is that "you can't save everyone" - the idea that the thing that unites all Spiders-Folk from across the multiverse, it is a common understanding of loss, a tragic origin that drives each hero to impossible efforts to never let it happen again.

Across the Spider-Verse's message is: "why?" I cannot begin to explain the absolute vibranium balls it took to question not just a core premise of your previous movie, but one of the core premises of the entire multi-media multi-corporate franchise. And yet, Lord & Miller show nothing but confidence executing this turn.

FULL SPOILERS OF THE BIG TWIST AHEAD in 3:

3

2

1

At the beginning of the film, which makes the brilliant move to start by telling Spider-Gwen's story since we already know Miles, we are introduced to Miguel O'Hara (the Spider-Man from 2099) as a badass who leads a secret organization dedicated to protecting the mutliverse...but who secretly is also here to protect "canon."

At the turning point of the film, when Miles is finally invited to join the Spider-Society, we are let in on a dark truth: the safety of the multiverse depends on the suffering of Spiders. Just as Uncle Ben must die, so must a gallant police captain - although almost subtextually, Spider-Gwen hints that so too must the Gwen Stacys who "fall for Spider-Man" - to keep Spider-Man emotionally isolated and solely dedicated to his mission of protecting New York. Trying to avert this lonely fate, to live a happier life, brings about the destruction of all that is.

Through an act of unabashed heroism in Mumbattan - saving the life of a gallant police captain and an innocent child - Miles has inadvertently endangered an entire universe. And unless he allows his own father, the gallant captain, to die as well - the same fate will befall his own. Miles, being a good son and a good person, refuses to accept this and takes on the entire Spider-Society to get home and save his father.

In the chase, we are let in on a second, dark truth: Miles wasn't invited to join the Spider-Society because he is one of the anomalies they hunt, because he was never supposed to be Spider-Man. (You see how this builds on both the speech from Miles' mom about not letting white society tell him he doesn't belong AND the message from the first film?) The Kingpin's collider experiments allowed an Alchemax spider to cross over from Earth-42 to Earth-1610...and as a result, Earth-42 never got a Spider-Man.

When Miles accidentally is sent to Earth-42 instead of his actual home, he learns what that meant. Without Spider-Man, Captain Jeff Davis (Brian Michael Bendis is a real mensch like 99% of the time, but man did he fuck up with that one) died instead of his brother Aaron. Because the intended Spider-Man of Earth-42 was...Miles Morales. Instead, he has become a dystopian Brooklyn's Prowler, a living reminder of the damage the accident of Earth-1610's Miles' creation has caused. This is why you don't violate "canon."

Except...as we learn, Miguel O'Hara is wrong and our Miles is right. When Gwen is sent back to her own universe, which she has been running away from because she knows that it means confronting both her father the gallant captain and the inevitability of his death, she learns that George Stacy quit the force rather than take his promotion: Captain Stacy doesn't have to die. Nor did Captain Singh. Nor does Captain Davis. (For that matter, Miles doesn't have to lie to his family and live a double life as Spider-Man, as we see from his accidentally-misdirected confession.)

We are not the prisoners of the "canon."

Ever since Amazing Fantasy #15, "with great power there must also come great responsibility" has been the indisputable truth of Spider-Man. At this point, it's become a meme: "the Parker luck." Over and over again, Peter Parker must suffer for our sins - Uncle Ben dies, Captain Stacy dies, Gwen Stacy's death ushers in a whole new era of comics and the phenomenon of "fridging," his marriage to Mary Jane has to be done away with because the Spider Office are apparently psychological eternal adolescents, Aunt May has died and almost died so many times everyone's stopped caring.

And that's the problem: we've been playing the same hit for 61 years and it's gotten old. In the process, creators and audience together have condemned Spider-Man to a Sisyphean existence of eternal backsliding, unable to move on, build a life for himself, mature, die and give way to new Spiders. Hell, the best thing that's happened to Peter Parker in the last several decades was an AU in which he has a super-powered wife and daughter and can settle into a middle age of teaching at the Xavier School.

That's the sermon that Lord & Miller came to preach: just as in 2018 it was time for a new Spider-Man, now it's time for new stories that have the courage to try something different.

A Side-Note About the Multiverse

As with the animation side of the story, Lord & Miller could have sat back on their laurels when it came to the concept of the multiverse. After all, they were the ones who made it cool and sent Marvel Studios scrambling to catch up (still haven't succeeded at that, by the way). I don't think Everything Everywhere All At Once needed the creative help, but it absolutely helped sell the movie to producers that a multiverse movie could make millions and win Oscars. (Funny how that works.) Instead, Lord & Miller took it up a notch by asking "what is the purpose of a multiverse?"

Hot take: I don't like the Spider-Verse events. For all that they've given us some amazing Spider designs - and we saw them all up on screen in Across the Spider-Verse - no one cares about the stories. That's because the naked purpose of the comics was to market test Spider designs, see which ones generated buzz, and then make spin-off comics about those Spiders.

Across the Spider-Verse uses the concept of a multiverse, the shiny Macguffin that multi-billion dollar corporate conglomerates will hope will the ticket to riches, to strip Spider-Man down to the essentials by showing every conceivable variation and asking us what they all have in common. Is it suffering, or a commitment to doing the right thing?

Conclusion:

Holy shit, is firing Lord & Miller the biggest mistake Disney has made since Walt refused to recognize the animators' union in 1941.

[vintage1981]

Space: 1999 Stars Barbara Bain & Nick Tate Goes Board Documentary About Sci-Fi Show’s Legendary Spacecraft

Actress Barbara Bain, star of the British sci-fi series Space: 1999, is preparing to board an upcoming documentary about the Eagle, the famed spacecraft at the heart of the show that ran from 1975-1977.

Bain will appear in The Eagle Has Landed as will Nick Tate, her cast mate from Space: 1999. The documentary includes the participation of several other notable figures: Apollo XVI astronaut Charles Duke Jr., Academy Award-winning visual effects artist Bill George (Blade Runner, Star Trek), and Brian Johnson, the VFX artist on Space: 1999 whose work is said to have influenced Star Wars. The film is being directed and produced by Jeffrey Morris, who also hosts the documentary. 

The Eagle Has Landed “explores the cross-generational impact of the iconic vessel” in the series that also starred Martin Landau. According to a press release, the film “showcases never-before-seen archival footage” and will be released in time for the 50th anniversary of Space: 1999’s debut, in 2025.

“Space: 1999 appeared on TV a few short years after the world watched Neil Armstrong take the first steps on the moon,” Morris noted in a statement. “The show’s unforgettable Eagle inspired a generation to envision a future in space and is still doing so decades later. The question we explore is ‘why?’ What is it about this imaginary craft that has captured and held imaginations for nearly 50 years?

Morris’s FutureDude Entertainment is producing the documentary in partnership with Zero Point Zero Production Inc. Anne Marie Gillen is a producer on the project, along with Morris. The film is written by Morris and Fredrick Haugen. Morris is represented by Espada Entertainment.

Space: 1999 ran for a total of 48 episodes, with Bain and Landau in all of them as, respectively, Dr. Helena Russell and Commander John Koenig (the actors were married to each other at the time; they had previously co-starred together in Mission: Impossible).

The show revolved around the denizens of Moonbase Alpha, scientific researchers living on the moon whose existence was threatened by a nuclear explosion, which rocketed the moon out of Earth’s orbit. Tate, an Australian-born actor, played pilot Alan Carter on 42 of the show’s 48 episodes. Originally, his character was to be killed off in the premiere episode, a casualty of the nuclear explosion, but producers Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson liked his work and expanded his role.

“Hovering above the Moon in one of Alpha’s Eagle spacecraft, Alan Carter is an observer to this holocaust, watching helplessly as the Moon spins out into space,” according to a synopsis published by the Catacombs.Space1999.net website. “Sacrificing his only chance to return home, Carter decides to give chase to the runaway Moon, joining his friends on the endless intergalactic journey.”

Tate told the website, “I didn’t have to dig too deeply with this character. Alan Carter was all the things I was as a young man: friendly, happy-go-lucky, someone who loved adventure and accepted a challenge.”

Ian McShane, Joan Collins, and Leo McKern were among actors who appeared in single episodes of Space: 1999.

[oscarupsets]

The Godfather Part II acts as both a prequel and a sequel, with time split between the rise of Vito (a large section of the novel on which the original is based) and the recent transfer of power to Michael.

Following release, it received a harsh review from Vincent Camby of the NYT. This is only a short excerpt, but know it goes on for quite a while with the same sentiment.

Part II has the same tunes, shootouts and suspense as the original. The back-and-forth style between young Vito and present day Michael feels like organized chaos, but is strengthened by the acting of both De Niro and Pacino. I found it a bit more difficult to follow than Part I, especially when they get to Cuba.

Recent reviews are much more favorable, and many consider it one of the greatest of all time alongside The Godfather.

Jack Nicholson returns to our upset list with Chinatown. The immersive 1930s style mimics previous winner The Sting, but with more violence.

Vincent Camby gave a considerably shorter review for this one, but still didn't seem overly impressed. I find his reviews to be too pretentious and wordy at times, so I kept my clipping to a minimum.

I had a good time with this one. It's a solid mystery with good pacing. The average viewer can follow it without feeling either bored or confused. I found the ending to be a bit rushed, and the concept of literal "Chinatown" felt forced, but I won't let the abrupt ending ruin the initial 2 hours.

The Godfather Part II beat out the original Godfather by 1 nomination and 3 wins at the 47th Academy Awards. It is also the most recent film to have 3 nominations in the same acting category. Al Pacino was (thankfully) moved into the leading actor category this time, but still lost to Art Carney (Harry and Tonto).

Coppola and Puzo won adapted screenplay for the second time, and Nino Rota won for score despite being voted out of the category 2 years prior.

Despite only taking home a single Oscar for screenplay, Chinatown prevailed over The Godfather Part II during the remaining season. It won 4 Golden Globes, 3 BAFTAs, and was named the 3rd best film of the year by the National Board of Review (Part II failed to make the list).

Not much else to say about these two. Neither swept "best film" during the awards season, and current reception is similar.

Unofficial Review: Honestly this is a tough one. The Godfather Part II is a great follow-up, and Chinatown is an excellent stand alone noir mystery.

[reelvibes91]

Top 10 Movies of 2023

10. The Creator - It had a really poignant message about how far we can take technology. Can we replicate the human experience but have it be placed in a human body. It raises the questions about what the future of warfare will look like. Add in some of the most stunning visuals that have been seen in a sci-fi movie, and the final product leaves you in a debate. One that does not have a wrong answer.

9. Scream 6- Jenna Ortega and Melissa Barrera return as the Carpenter sisters, and this film takes the franchise to a new location. Changing up the scenery allowed for fresh thrills to be infused into this series and created a new level of tension. It was a very solid entry as it developed the legacy characters more and continued to give depth to the new core 4. Very good movie.

8. Talk to Me- One of the most original horror films that has been released in a long time. It plays on themes of loss, the supernatural, what happens after death and contact with the world beyond our own. It is well made, well acted and completely immerses you in this unique premise. This is a gem among other films that thankfully makes the list due to other films being pushed back beyond 2023.

7. The Killer- Fassbender is a revelation in this stylish action thriller. It may have a simple plot but sometimes all you need to do is breathe fresh life into something that has been done before. Fincher relies on the fast talking narrative and multiple set pieces to beautifully craft this story that plays out before us. It works and excels because you connect with the story and want to see how it plays out.

6. The Super Mario Bros- This film sat atop the list for a long while but ultimately found itself bumped down. It is such a fun experience for anyone who grew up with the games and a delight to share with the younger generation. This is the single movie from this year that has played the most in my household. It holds so much Nostalgia and brings such a smile to my face.

5. Air- Ben Affleck brings this story to life in such a compelling manner. For anyone who followed MJs career this story is not new. For those who have forgotten MJ used this platform to become the single most recognized athlete of all time. This story, this deal and how it played out changed the landscape of the name, image, likeness game. The Air Jordan symbol is truly iconic and now this film will fully cement that legacy within cinema. Absolutely the kind of film we need more of.

4. Oppenheimer- When Nolan's career is said and done there will be so many achievements we can look back upon. This one will be considered the most important due to the historical nature of it. The way Nolan paints the picture of how this all came to be is a crowning achievement in film making and could likely win the director a slew of awards. Nolan knows how to make a stunning film while getting the most out of his cast and he was some amazing talent to choose from here. 

3. Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse- Miles Morales is my favorite Spider-Man and this movie continues to showcase all the reasons why he is a phenomenal character. The sequel also added more layers to how the multiversal aspect of it all works. Easily some of the best animation we have ever seen. This film is on the short list for best picture at the Oscars and definitely deserves all the praise it is getting. 

2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem - No kid grew up in the 80s and 90s without knowing who the Ninja Turtles are. Now we have them present for the next generation and what a treat it was. There was so much story and world building in just over 90 minutes. You could feel the chemistry among the actors as well as they brought the brothers to life. The animation was once again on point, and the stellar cast overall helped bring the classic characters to life. This is the TMNT movie we have been needing for the last decade or more.

1 Killers of the Flower Moon- This 3.5 hour long Martin Scorsese epic told probably the most heartbreaking story of the year. What we see in this movie is the death and betrayal of the Osage people. Led by Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone this is the type of story that needs to be told to help educate people on the past. The Osage murders were about greed and corruption. Scorsese continues to make films with bold statements and that will help preserve the truth about history. 

[zawescource]

‘I always play extreme characters’: Zawe Ashton on life after Fresh Meat

As Vod in the hit Channel 4 show she shocked even her own parents. What’s next for the actor-writer-director-producer?

The problem with interviewing someone you feel like you already know is how quickly it can go wrong. One minute you’re saying hello in the empty east London pub you’ve agreed to meet in, spontaneously hugging each other. The next, you’re trying to order a glass of wine and Zawe Ashton is horrified, because it’s not even 5pm yet. She reckons we should have tea instead, so we do. And then she says, “Oh God, I can’t believe I wine-shamed you.”

It is then that I realise Ashton isn’t actually Vod, the student she plays in the Channel 4 student sitcom Fresh Meat. Vod is a literature student who doesn’t read books, preferring partying, shagging and paying her way by selling ecstasy. Ashton, 31, is a straight-A scholar, who spent all her childhood weekends training as an actor, and thus has been earning her own money, appearing on telly in The Demon Headmaster, Jackanory and Desmond’s, since the age of six. Unlike Vod, Ashton has also written a play that’s being developed by the National Theatre; has a book deal for something that sounds like an autobiographical novel, “but I can’t talk about it. Well, not much. Well, I probably will”; and has set up her own production company, Asylum Features, to release films that she writes and directs herself. She is, I have to concede, a bit busy for pubs.

What Ashton does have in common with Vod, however, is that they are both very funny, as becomes apparent when we discuss what it’s like being hailed as “one to watch” and getting nominated for “best newcomer” awards when you’ve already been working for 25 years. “The single perspective shot, Stanley Kubrick, down the corridor,” she says, her mind racing ahead. “Aww, there’s a little girl down there! And then you get closer and she turns round and has the face of” – she puts on a scary voice – “a 200-year-old woman. That is my career right now, in a nutshell. I’m actually at retirement age, internally.” She estimates that she might be due a breakdown. “Or a Macaulay Culkin moment where I just go generally off the rails. Or a Winona Ryder moment, shoplifting.” She thinks about Winona. “How did that happen?”

We head to a quiet room upstairs, where Ashton sprawls across an armchair, all long arms and legs and funny voices, her mind scattering ideas like wildflowers. She recently got back from LA – she bought a plane ticket and left the same day – and found herself getting lured into the new age scene in Venice Beach and Topanga Canyon. “I know it’s the worst word ever,” she says, grimacing, “but I really am transitioning.” Ashton has been to LA several times before, though she won’t say why (you get the feeling there might be various projects in various Hollywood pipelines she can’t yet discuss). This time, she says, a conversation with a guru has left her believing she might be on the cusp of a whole new stage of her life.

Perhaps this transition will liberate her from the anxiety she describes as something of a constant in her life. She was not a carefree child, and even playing Vod, who can be so comically unaware, takes a great deal of awareness. At one point I ask her if it was a relief that the only real sex scenes she’s ever had to do as Vod were more comic than sensual. “A relief?” she repeats, as if I have brought up something as unlikely as Antarctica or a hippopotamus. She is almost breathless. “There’s never any relief! Relief is not a word that ever enters my mind, about anything.”

Does she never give herself a break? After all, plenty of people say they want to write a play, a film, a book, but hardly anyone wins the London Poetry Slam Championship in 2000, a Verity Bargate award nomination in 2007 for her debut play, Harm’s Way, or a Raindance film festival nomination in 2014 for best British short for Happy Toys, which she directed. “Well, I think I am like other people. It’s just that I think I’m going to get to the end and then give up. But wow, thank you for saying I finish things, because I really think I am such a scatty person.”

She credits Lena Dunham with showing sex on TV that is not actually sexy, and also with the inspiration for writing, directing and acting in her own shows. “As a woman, you do have a sense that if you can do other things, then you should. If you feel, mmm, the roles are getting a little” – she raises a sardonic eyebrow – “repetitive, and you know you can write, then you should write a different role. It’s a quadruple indemnity mission. I plan on having a long career. I don’t want to burn out. It’s like, I have the shield, and I have the lightsaber” – she is doing movie voices now – “these are my weapons of choice! Hopefully, one of those will come to serve me in some way.”

Does she feel she owes it to the world to redress the balance? “Well, the world doesn’t have to give a shit in any way. It just feels like a fulfilling and smart thing to do.”

Ashton grew up in Stoke Newington, north London, the eldest of three children, and has recently bought her own flat not far from there, living with her boyfriend, a film distributor, whom she prefers not to talk about. Her mother Victoria arrived in England in her teens from Uganda, where Ashton’s grandfather, Paulo Muwanga, had briefly served as both president and prime minister. At a Christmas party, Victoria met her future husband Paul, a working-class cockney who was the first in his family to go to university (Cambridge). The couple both worked as schoolteachers, Victoria teaching design and technology, and Paul teaching English – though he later moved to Channel 4 to commission education programmes for teachers, so telly was always a presence in their house, as well as literature. The three children went to local state schools, and young Zawe was taken to Anna Scher improvisation classes merely to “burn off some energy”. She instantly loved it. “It is very odd to be a very tiny person and know what you want to do.”

Famously, the Anna Scher theatre has produced lots of big names including Kathy Burke and half the cast of EastEnders. But Ashton says it was precisely the unstarry nature of the place that shaped the artist she would become. “It was a weekend drama class that cost £2.50, and we weren’t supposed to do commercials, we weren’t allowed to use the words star or fame – they were banned. You had to say actor or success. You couldn’t say, ‘I want to be a star’ because it was meaningless, just empty calories.”

Ashton recounts a story about a black boy being sent home from an audition, having been told that he could never be the Milky Bar kid. Scher, who did the teaching herself, dedicated an entire session to discussing with her pupils where the casting people had done wrong. “We were armed with all of this amazing… activism, I suppose. She’s an amazing woman. You were always encouraged to know why you wanted to act. Politics is not something you think about as a kid, but I realise now that she was infusing us with a level of conscience. You had to be on time, you had to be present. The number of birthdays I missed. I just gave up every Friday night and Saturday afternoon for 14 years.”

It was a dedication that didn’t make her popular with other children at school. Ashton was bullied, and eventually moved secondary school when the threats of beatings from other teenage girls, who knew she was taking days off to film for TV, became too much. At City and Islington College, she found better friends who shared her love of poetry. She took A-levels and applied to do drama at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Then came results day. “I got hurried by my teachers into an antechamber. They were like, ‘Have you opened your results yet?’ I was like, ‘No? Should I? Oh my God, I’ve got three As.’ I was overwhelmed, because it had been a really tough year. My mum had been really ill with cancer. They all said, you have to take a year off to apply to Cambridge now. So there was this crossroads moment – you know, when you realise your life could go in two really different directions? But then the stupid, stupid girl – no, I’m joking. I’m really glad I did what I did.”

What she did was take a year off to look after her mum, and then went to Manchester Met anyway. The course was a bit of a disappointment, she says, the teachers intent on making Ashton less experimental, disparaging her idea to do things such as walk around the audience trailing a red ribbon behind her. (She pitched the same concept at a local experimental theatre a week later and it came second in a commissioning competition.) But she experienced student life, and the partying that she had missed while being such a focused child. She went to Manchester nightclubs and got into DJing, experiences that would prove valuable when she auditioned for Fresh Meat years later.

Written by Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, the duo behind Peep Show, the show is set in the fictional Manchester Medlock University. Vod is a blunt, libidinous raver; tub-thumping and workshy, with a thudding estuary accent and directional hair. She shares a house with a mismatched group of students – Jack Whitehall, “who makes me laugh so much”, plays the posh twit whose family money has bought the house. In one memorable scene she is made to read Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children and tells the class the book makes her feel “like I’ve got this pompous, fat, naked man sitting on my face, and he’s resting his big, overrated bollocks on my airways”.

Ashton auditioned for the part about eight times, and saw so many other actors there, of every type and look, that she realised she could make Vod her own, that she wasn’t being asked to play any kind of trope. I ask if there has been any negative response to the only black character in the group ending up as a drug dealer. “NEVER!! Oh my God, that’s never something that’s come up,” she says, clearly surprised by the question. “And I feel like, she’s not even as extreme as a ‘dealer’. Vod is someone who capitalises on situations, sometimes ones that are really misguided. It all goes really horribly wrong – I think Vod’s got a lot of obstacles this series. I’m quite excited about watching it.”

She might well be watching it alone, however, or certainly without her dad, who isn’t too keen on seeing her shows. She might have developed her sense of humour from her parents (“They are my favourite comedy double act”), as well as her love of language (“My dad is such a brilliant writer”), but he can’t get used to seeing her on screen. He pretends her shows are radio plays, so he can keep his eyes closed. “Actually, I told my dad he should watch the episode with Vod and her mum, and he said, ‘I’d love to.’ Then he came in and I was right in the middle of saying the c-word. And he was like, ‘Might just go and put the kettle on again.’ ”

She recently played another challenging role in Not Safe For Work, a much bleaker Channel 4 comedy by playwright DC Moore, about the jilted generation of thirtysomethings whose job security has disappeared. Ashton plays Katherine, one of a group of civil servants whose jobs are relocated from London to Northampton following public sector cuts, and who has to maintain a steely professional exterior to hide the way she is falling apart inside. Other roles have included a small part in Doctor Who (for a moment, she was the bookies’ first choice to become the first female Doctor), and the lead in Dreams Of A Life, Carol Morley’s documentary film about Joyce Vincent, the woman whose remains were found on her sofa three years after her death, with the television still on.

“I just always play these really extreme characters – they’ve all come with parental guidance stickers on them. I did this Abi Morgan play at the Donmar just now and she said, ‘You play a lot of outsiders, don’t you?’ And I was like, ‘Oh my God, I do!’” She looks surprised. “And she said, ‘Outsiders who don’t need much male intervention.’ ‘Well, yes, I do,’ I said, like I knew that about myself.”

Other theatre work includes Othello at the Globe and Gone Too Far! at the Royal Court, which is the theatre where she took the young writers’ course and wrote her play For All The Women Who Thought They Were Mad, at 24. It was inspired by research into the way that psychiatric medication affects women, and the way that black women in particular are often over-medicated, so that their health deteriorates even further. “There are stories of women in pretty powerful positions, in jobs, suddenly finding themselves in institutions, unrecognisable to themselves and their friends,” she says. “So I just had to sit in the research and think about it, but there was a writing competition. The night before the deadline, I said to myself, you really owe it to yourself to deliver – just do it. So I sat down and wrote it in an actual fever, staying up for 24 hours.”

Next up is the Genet play The Maids, a double-hander with Emmy-winning American actor Uzo Aduba (best known as Crazy Eyes in Orange Is The New Black), opening in London next month. “It’s going to be really, really interesting to explore two characters who are essentially ready to burst from the beginning of the play.”

After that, perhaps she will have time for a quick personal collapse, though it seems unlikely. “I don’t really have the luxury of having a breakdown,” Ashton says. “I’ve just been working for a really, really long time.” And yet that 200-year-old woman in the corridor has got another century ahead of her, at least.

[paladin-of-nerd-fandom65]

No need to apologize ppl are busy I understand ;)

1: what’s their biggest pet peeve?

2: what’s something they both can’t agree on? Best spider-man actor, best Star Wars trilogy, etc…

3: what’s their favorite & least favorite animated Christmas movies?

4: is Jon & mar’is reaction the same as the duo when they react to: somebody getting hit in the nuts both real life & movie/cartoon, toliet humor, & the whole rikishi stink face thing?

5: for the duo, what’s the best gift they got for each other? I can see Jake giving Chris a blue domino mask with white lenses.

6: are the duo fans of the game awards? If so, what game are they hoping for win game of the year?

7: not really a question but I like the little fanfic snippet of “Lava bridges & you” would love to see a full fanfiction of that, would love to help to ;)

Thanks for your patience. It’s very appreciated ;-)@gothicghost2000

1) For Chris, while getting his superhero identity confused with Dick’s Nightwing is an all too common way to annoy him a bit, a far bigger one for him would be hearing and looking at comments of all sorts that claim Superman being a ‘lame’, ‘boring’, ‘Un-relatable’ and overall ‘dull excuse’ of a superhero who should step aside in favor of any other heroes, especially Batman, just because they’re ‘cooler’ and ‘edgier’. Yeah he doesn’t take it too kindly deep down of people having those thoughts about his adopted dad. Frankly neither Jon nor him is they would be honest.

For Jake, it’s from what he can admit is a tad bit more petty on his end and he apologizes for it. That said, do not mock the original Discowing in front of him. Jake looks up to that first suit his father made with pride and he will not be taking any badmouthing against it if he can help it, No siree. Not even family members are other Titans are safe from his objections to their opinions should they make fun of Discowing

2) Best Star Wars film (Chris votes on A New Hope while Jake firmly believes it’s The Force Awakens) , Best Pizza Place (Jake will always back the local Marv and George’s while Chris favors Shakey’s) , Fairly Oddparents (Jake) vs Jimmy Neutron (Chris) but most of all and most fiercely, the Best Godzilla film ever made (besides the 1954 OG; Chris champions Godzilla vs Monster Zero while Jake touts King of the Mosnters 2019 as the best)

3) Chris

- Favorite: Elf (2005) (Not just for the obvious reason of it being funny as heck but also since it deals with themes of adoption and trying to fit in, he can relate so well with Buddy)

- Least Favorite: Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer (Mainly cause the song it’s based on just sounds too morbid for a cherry beat and tone)

Jake

- Favorite: The Muppet Christmas Carol (Alfred and him almost every single time at the family’s Christmas party do a karaoke of ‘A Thankful Heart’)

- Least Favorite: The Nutcracker 3D: The Untold Story (Those visuals all throughout the movie….he can never get them out of his head no matter how hard he tries)

4) More or less almost the same though Jon is tad bit more likely to have a small chuckle with watching a Stink Face as long as it’s short and against a true heel. Mar’i also doesn’t cringe as hard with nut shots as she had seen her Dad pull that off during Father-Daughter patrols together sometimes and the reactions from the crooks who receive are pretty funny form a distance.

5) While Jake’s best gift for Chris was that mask as described, in turn thanks to Chris, Jake was given a rare one of a kind 12-inch replica of Voltron which being a fan of, all to well bringing a big smile to Jake’s face

6) They’re a bit more casual than most when it comes to those shows as the Duo really only enjoy the games they play and Jude on their own merits. That said as for this year, Chris and Jake are hoping for Super Mario Bros Wonder to win Game of the Year as they love that one

7) You know maybe later this month I can write a small snippet to expand it. Not saying it’s a guarantee but it’s certainly an idea now that you brought it up lol

[twwpress]

Weekly Press Briefing #51: June 11th - June 17th

Welcome back to the Weekly Press Briefing, where we bring you highlights from The West Wing fandom each week, including new fics, ongoing challenges, and more! This briefing covers all things posted from June 11 - June 17, 2023! Did we miss something? Let us know; you can find our contact info at the bottom of this briefing!

Challenges/Prompts:

The following is a roundup of open challenges/prompts. Do you have a challenge or event you’d like us to promote? Be sure to get in touch with us! Contact info is at the bottom of this briefing.

The Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda Josh/Donna prompt fest (hosted by @jessbakescakes and @thefinestmuffin) is open for claiming; fics reveal on June 24th. Details here.

Photos/Videos:

Here’s what was posted from June 11 - June 17.

Amy Landecker posted a photo of herself and Bradley Whiford at last year’s Creative Arts Emmy Awards in celebration of his nomination for a Supporting Actor Emmy for his role as Commander Lawrence in The Handmaid’s Tale. 

Richard Schiff posted photos of himself with Lisa Edelstein in promotion of their short film Swipe NYC.

Bradley Whitford posted photos of himself on the WGA picket line with his Perfect Harmony co-stars.

Dule Hill posted a promo video for his show The Wonder Years; the second season is now available to stream on Hulu. 

Josh Malina posted a video of the Leopoldstadt cast walking to the Tony Awards together. 

Josh Malina posted a video of his Leopoldstadt colleague Brandon Uranowitz winning a Tony Award. 

Josh Malina posted a selfie with David Krumholtz, who originally played Hermann (the character Malina now plays) in Leopoldstadt. 

Josh Malina posted a silly photo of himself claiming that he’s staying humble after Leopoldstadt’s Tony wins. 

Josh Malina posted a photo of himself napping with his dog, Gus. 

Kim Webster posted a video of herself and her friends taking shots with Geena Davis.

Marlee Matlin posted a photo of her brother and his husband, along with well wishes for their first anniversary. 

Rob Lowe posted a video of himself and his wife getting ready for a date and joking that they were going to prom. 

We missed some videos from May that feature Martin Sheen. Huge thanks to the newsletter reader who sent them our way! 1 | 2 

Donna Moss Daily: June 11 | June 12 | June 13 | June 14 | June 15 | June 16 | June 17

Daily Josh Lyman: June 11 | June 12 | June 13 | June 14 | June 15 | June 16 | June 17

No Context BWhit: June 11 | June 12 | June 13 | June 14 | June 15 | June 16 | June 17

@jdsgifs: June 11 (1) | June 11 (2) | June 11 (3)

@twwarchive: June 17

Editors’ Choice: 

In honor of Father’s Day, we’re sharing some of our favorite fics that focus on fatherhood and found family dad vibes! We’ve tried to include a lot of fluff, but please be aware that because family relationships can be complicated, there might be some angsty and potentially triggering content here, so please read tags and notes and take care of yourself first. 

Favorites by Jxjxjx | Rated G | Jed Bartlet & Charlie Young, Zoey Bartlet/Charlie Young | Complete | Jed and Charlie talk before Charlie gets married

 i knew the love of a father runs deep by sam_writes_fics | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | She sees something light up in her husband’s eyes. She’s seen the look before – when he proposed and she said yes, when they finally said ‘I do’, both times when she told them they were having a baby – and every single time it makes her heart flutter.

 His Boy by The_wastedworld | Rated G | Josh Lyman & Leo McGarry, Jed Bartlet & Josh Lyman, Jed Bartlet & Leo McGarry (Gen Fic) | Complete | Post Bartlet shouting at Josh in 3x22, Featuring Leo defending Josh, a discussion of how much they both love him, and a slightly screwed up timeline. Also featuring a slightly mean Bartlet, but he apologises

 when i'm in my sweet daughter's eyes (my heart is now ruined for the rest of all time) by JessBakesCakes | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | The first day of school in the Moss-Lyman family is, as seven-year-old Nora puts it, a big freakin’ deal. Josh has come to enjoy it as much as the girls do – watching them all take on another school year with (mostly) wonder and excitement fills him with pride.

// the Moss-Lyman family's first day of school

 For the Redemption and the Battles by shutterbug_12 (shutterbug) | Rated G | Andrea Wyatt/Toby Ziegler | Complete | At Hanukkah, Toby teaches a lesson.

One Quiet Day in June by GinnyK  | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | This was my answer to a Father's Day challenge, many, many years ago!

i'm gonna love you til my lungs give out by payback16 | Rated E | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | Sixteen years together and he still feels like pinching himself every morning he wakes up to a head of blonde hair tucked under his chin. Three other blonde little heads are sleeping just down the hall and at the thought he pulls his wife in tighter, endlessly grateful for her and the family they've created together.

or: father's day 2022 with our favorite dad

 Fathers by Nkala99 | Rated G | Gen Fic/No Pairings Listed | Complete | Jed Bartlet usually tried to maintain a professional distance with the men and women who worked for him, but the longer he spent time with them on the road during his campaign, he couldn’t deny that he was coming to care about his team.

Father's Day by Lulu [archived by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist] | Rated T | Gen Fic/No Pairings Listed | Complete | Leo, Mallory, and some friends get together on father's day.

Fics:

Presenting your weekly roundup of fics posted in the tag for The West Wing on Archive of Our Own.

Josh/Donna

Errors and Omissions by Chinesepapercut | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

Fragments of Days Gone By… by JayeReid1 | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

Domestic Days by spooky_spacegirl | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

C.J./Danny

Off the Record by  onekisstotakewithme for daylight_angel, miabicicletta, Luppiters, hondagirll | Rated T | Danny Concannon/C. J. Cregg | In Progress

12 Months by Jxjxjx |  Rated G | Danny Concannon/C. J. Cregg | In Progress

Other Pairings/Gen Fic

 it started off with a kiss... now it ended up like this by imawkwardlysoc | Rated G | Sam Seaborn/Original Female Character | In Progress

Wait For Me by imperfectirises | Rated M | Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet | In Progress

Not Making Plans by Mabis | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Sam Seaborn | Complete

north potomac, maryland by rearviewmirror | Rated G |  C. J. Cregg/Toby Ziegler | Complete

Multiple Pairings

Operation in the Desert by mlea7675 | Rated T | Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet, Helen Santos/Matt Santos, Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Ainsley Hayes/Sam Seaborn, Danny Concannon/C. J. Cregg, C. J. Cregg/Toby Ziegler, Will Bailey/Kate Harper, Zoey Bartlet/Charlie Young, Leo McGarry/Annabeth Schott | Complete

Yes, You are better than my old boyfriend by Proportional Response | Rated E | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Dr. Freeride/Donna Moss | Complete

THE WEEKLY PRESS BRIEFING TEAM CAN BE REACHED VIA THE FOLLOWING METHODS:

Twitter: @TWWPress

Email: weeklypressbriefing@gmail.com

 Feel free to let us know if we missed something, if you have an event you’d like us to promote, or if you have an item that you’d like included in the next briefing!

xx, What’s next?

[justforbooks]

In a brief biographical sketch, the crime writer Christopher Fowler, who has died aged 69, claimed he had achieved several of his “pathetic schoolboy fantasies”: releasing an “appalling” Christmas pop single; working as a male model; posing as the villain in a Batman graphic novel; running a Soho night club; appearing in The Pan Book of Horror series; and standing in for James Bond. Rather than examples of Fowler’s wicked sense of humour, all these claims were true. Time Out, meanwhile, called him “an award-winning novelist who would make a good serial killer”.

He was best known for his Bryant & May thrillers, featuring the elderly, venerable detectives Arthur Bryant and John May, who head up the Peculiar Crimes Unit, a department of the London police set up during the second world war to investigate cases that might cause a national scandal or public unrest. The pair had made appearances in some of Fowler’s early novels – Rune (1990), Darkest Day (1993) and Soho Black (1998) – before breaking out into their own long-running series, starting with Full Dark House in 2003.

Bryant, an irascible technophobe, and May, more accepting of the ways of modern life, have been partners for more than 60 years, having first teamed up in 1940 when they were 23 and 19 respectively. The first novel begins with the death by explosion of Bryant; while May investigates, he discovers connections with the pair’s very first case, the killing of a dancer during the blitz, which is told in flashback.

The Gothic air and clashing personalities continued into sequels, each intended to explore a different sub-genre of crime fiction, described by Fowler as “all the devices of classic murder mysteries, including disguised identities, locked room puzzles, surprise ending and nick-of-time rescues”.

The intended one-off novel became six books, then 12 and eventually 20, including two collections of short stories. Central to the series – and many of his other works – was Fowler’s love of London. He found the city endlessly fascinating and delighted in discovering its odder corners and the strangeness of its inhabitants, past and present. “The most bizarre facts in this book are the truest,” he noted in the acknowledgments of The Water Room, the second in the series, published in 2004.

Fowler began writing books alongside a career in the film industry, having co-founded the film promotion agency the Creative Partnership while in his 20s. This gave him the freedom to write what he liked, which made him a publisher’s nightmare: the unclassifiable author. After producing two novels that failed to launch and publishing two humorous titles, How to Impersonate Famous People (1984) and The Ultimate Party Book (1985), Fowler sold two collections of horror stories – City Jitters (1986) and More City Jitters (1988) – to the publisher of his near-neighbour, the novelist and playwright Clive Barker.

He followed this with Roofworld (1988), an urban fantasy novel about battling gangs and secret occult societies who use zipwires and bungee cords to travel above the city – inspired by the interconnected rooftops of London’s densely packed streets and his knowledge of how burglars would break into buildings through the top floor.

Roofworld established some of Fowler’s common themes – warfare between classes, battling evil corporations, and secret worlds existing within touching distance of unsuspecting Londoners – and introduced recurring characters, including DS Janice Longbright, who later served in the Peculiar Crimes Unit.

The real myths and mysteries of London held more interest to him than the supernatural horror of his earlier novels, although that did not stop him writing disturbing and blackly humorous takes on old themes: Rune’s subliminal messages echo MR James’ Casting the Runes; in Red Bride (1992) an ordinary man is seduced by a succubus; and in Spanky (1994) the hero engages in a Faustian pact with a demon.

The family at the heart of Psychoville (1995) are driven out of the suburbs by its change-resistant middle-class community; Disturbia (1996) has its hero uncover the machinations of a secret society; Hell Train (2011) is a homage to Hammer Films; Nyctophobia (2014) is a haunted house story; Little Boy Found (2017, as LK Fox) a psychological thriller; and Hot Water (2022) a murder mystery.

Fowler’s influences included Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast trilogy (which he called “powerful, black and funny”), John Dickson Carr’s The Hollow Man (“the ultimate in sleight-of-hand”) and JG Ballard (“his ‘five minutes into the future’ books were startling in their prescience”), the latter strongly influencing The Sand Men (2015).

His short story Left Hand Drive was filmed in 1993, and The Master Builder was made into the TV movie Through the Eyes of a Killer (1992), with Tippi Hedren. He won five British Fantasy awards, including for Full Dark House. Other Bryant & May novels won prizes and he was awarded the 2015 Crime Writers’ Association Dagger in the Library award for his body of work. His memoir Paperboy (2009) won the inaugural Green Carnation award.

Fowler was born in Greenwich, south-east London, the son of Lilian (nee Upton), a legal secretary, and William Fowler, a glass-blower and designer of scientific instruments with whom Fowler had a troubled relationship. He grew up reading fantasy, horror and science fiction, graduating from Superman comics to Tolkien and Ballard in his teens.

He was educated at Colfe’s grammar school in Lee before enrolling to study art at Goldsmiths College in 1972, although he left to take up work as a copywriter in various advertising agencies. At the age of 26 he set up the Creative Partnership with the producer Jim Sturgeon to market films, becoming a one-stop shop producing trailers, posters and commercials for radio and TV.

The company worked on campaigns for Bernardo Bertolucci, Peter Greenaway, Ridley Scott, Quentin Tarantino, David Cronenberg, Mike Leigh and many others, on movies ranging from Alien – they were paid £20 for the line “In space no one can hear you scream” – and The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, to GoldenEye and Reservoir Dogs.

The Creative Partnership opened an office in Beverley Hills and Fowler spent the early 80s in the US, but could find only badly paid, uncreative work. With time on his hands he began writing, finding success after returning to London. He was able to maintain a steady output, including a graphic novel (Menz Insana, 1997), a stage play (Celebrity, produced at the Phoenix, London, in 2010), and the War of the Worlds video game (2011) for Paramount.

He also wrote a 319-episode series of short essays on forgotten authors for the Independent on Sunday, partly collected as Invisible Ink (2012) and The Book of Forgotten Authors (2017). Essay 319 featured Christopher Fowler, described as “a typical example of the late 20th-century midlist author ... [whose] ability of turning his hand to most literary forms granted him the honorary title of ‘Wordslut’”.

Fowler was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in March 2020. He worked on his 20th Bryant & May novel, London Bridge is Falling Down (2021), while undergoing chemotherapy in hospital, and the following year published Bryant & May’s Peculiar London, in which his characters explore the true life eccentricities and elusive byways of the city. His third volume of memoirs, Word Monkey (following Paperboy and Film Freak, 2013), is due out in August.

Fowler formed a civil partnership in 2007 with the TV executive Peter Chapman, and 10 years later they married. Peter survives him, along with his younger brother, Steven.

🔔 Christopher Robert Fowler, author and screenwriter, born 26 March 1953; died 2 March 2023

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

[fam1lyjewels]

The members of the family jewels each come from very different backgrounds. Part of the reasoning for the group’s name comes from the fact that they are their families’ prized possessions, their beautiful little gems. Members like Nayun and Narae come from a well known family in Korea, whilst members like Heidi, Gigi, and Nanami are from humble families in far away countries.

These are their families.

(   the jungs   )   /   *   single parent by choice   .

All HEIDI has is her mother, JUNG JIHYE. Before having HEIDI, JIHYE was a Korean teacher at a high school in Iceland. She is a Korean immigrant, having fallen in love with the country while on vacation and decided to move there without a second thought. JIHYE couldn’t wait to live in Iceland with her boyfriend at the time, but things quickly went down the drain. He did not possess the same passion for the country and didn’t want to move there and not have a stable job. So, she left him in Korea. Or at least, she thought she did. JIHYE found out she was pregnant before leaving for good. She chose to not tell him, fearing he would make her stay. HEIDI was born in 2001 and she hasn’t told either of them. JIHYE plans to take this secret to her deathbed, or at least keep it a secret until HEIDI does a DNA test.

HEIDI is okay with not having a dad, but she always wonders what it would be like to have more than just her mom.

(   the kims   )   /   *   the 1% of the 1%   .

SON MINAH is the matriarch of the Kim family. She is the oldest child of SON JONGYUL, the founder and CEO of KMO Corp. As the acting COO it is speculated that upon death or retirement, she will become the CEO of the company. KMO is the leading source of news and entertainment in South Korea, Japan, and China. Because of her ties to KMO, it is estimated that MINAH’s net worth is nearly $100 million USD. KIM JINHO, the patriarch, is a four-time Academy award winning director. In 1998 he won Best International Short film for UMMA, a 20-minute film following the life of a young girl as she slowly, but surely turns into her beast of a mother despite wanting to be nothing like her. The year the twins were born (2003) he won Best Director for When the Songbird Croaks a zombie movie that focused on the horrors of humanity rather than the monsters. Best Screenplay was won in 2007 for MAPS, a story of star-crossed lovers who met their end far too soon. The most recent award was Best Picture in 2021 for Bite the Hand, a film that follows a woman’s journey to cutting off her family to better herself. His net worth is estimated to be $50 million USD.

Because of their parents, NAYUN and NARAE have known nothing but luxury. They have been guests to the Oscars, the Grammys, the BAFTAS, et cetera simply because they are the flesh and blood of SON JONGYUL and KIM MINAH.

(   the murakamis   )   /   *   raised by a sibling   .

NANAMI’s biological father passed away from cancer before she was born, and her mother died during childbirth. With no one else to care for her, she was adopted by her then 18 year old brother MURAKAMI SATOSHI. SATOSHI was college student studying engineering at the time. When a child was suddenly thrown his way, he pulled out of schooling to care for NANAMI. His close friends decided to pitch in and help him raise his sister. When SATOSHI would leave for his job at the local spa one of his friends would step in and care for NANAMI. SATO KOUKI, ENDO HIMARI, and HARADA MIO were the most influential on NANAMI in her early developmental years. However, as their college careers came to a close SATOSHI’s friends began moving away to start their lives. Times became tough for the MURAKAMI siblings. Things stayed tough until SATOSHI met TAKAHASHI EMA, his wife. At this point NANAMI was 4 and needed a female figure in her life more than ever. Since then, they had been a family of three.

NANAMI has a fear of people leaving her that stems from her past. She fears that everyone she loves will pack up and leave because she isn’t enough. She is currently in therapy.

(   the xus   )   /   *   the nuclear family   .

MIKEY XU is a history professor at Chapman University. He met his wife, HOSANA “ANNIE” KAM while studying there in the 1990s. She was studying to become and high school English teacher and he was studying to become a history professor. They met at a student mixer the RA on their floor was throwing, and have been together ever since. Not too long after they met, ANNIE became pregnant with their son GEORGE and they quickly got married before she was too far along. They had a child before either of them earned their bachelors degree. MIKEY and ANNIE repeated this while getting their masters degrees. GIGI was born a month before they got their degrees.

MIKEY and ANNIE have the healthiest relationship out of the members’ parents. GIGI loves her parents and wants them to come visit Korea.

[sarasa-cat]

YES! Gattaca tops the list! *fist pump*

I'll explain that one:

Gattaca takes place in a near-future version of our world in which genomic analysis of sperm and eggs is regularly used for eugenic selection when people plan a pregnancy. No one --- or, at least, no one respectable --- has children "the natural way" any more. A person's genetic code determines all major aspects of their life and discrimination based on genetic flaws is baked into every aspect of society.

Your genes are your destiny, regardless of probabilities and environmental interactions. In this dystopian society, any such risk must be avoided. Thus, if you possess genes that indicate a likelihood of certain diseases or conditions, your opportunities are limited. Corporations engage in genetic testing as a condition of employment. Single people in the dating scene secretly test potential partner's code to make sure they are getting involved with someone who has excellent genes. Thus, genetic code enforces economic class structure.

The movie's story centers around the fate of two men: The main character is Vincent Freeman (played by Ethan Hawke) who was naturally conceived and has a genetic profile that rates him as having a high probability of severe health disorders and an exceedingly short lifespan. Growing up as a victim of low expectations, Vincent is stuck in working as a janitor at an areospace corporation -- a field that Vincent is deeply interested in.

The other central character is Jerome Eugene Morrow (played by Jude Law) who is deemed genetically perfect but fate left him with a severe handicap and a hell of a lot of cynicism and depression.

Jerome's genetic code is worth a lot of money on the black market, which is how Vincent and Jerome meet.

.

Gattaca came out in 1997, which is also key. At that time the Human Genome Project was seven years into its way of mapping and sequencing every gene in human beings. (The Genome Project completed in 2003).

Also, at that time, the field of bioethics was loudly raising the alarm on what would happen when companies, governments, or both, have unprecedented access to every person's genetic code.

This film was so accurate in portraying our potential future that many molecular biologists praised the film or, at least, highly recommended the film to their molbio colleagues such that other geneticists could "understand the perception of our trade held by so many of the public-at-large" (quote from Lee Silver, MolBio at Princeton, who at least then, was exceedingly pro-designer baby. Silver now runs a genetic screening company).

In addition to being nominated for and winning a number of film awards, the movie is visually beautiful and the performances by Jude Law & Ethan Hawke are stellar. The tension is palpable.

Also, since this is tumblr, I should also mention that the fanfic potential in this film is *chefs kiss*.

Highly recommended.

[thebandcampdiaries]

Reginald Furtick Celebrates Major Award Win and New Instrumental Release, “Conduit of Change”

Booneville, Mississippi — January 2025 — Local composer and producer Reginald Furtick is thrilled to share his new instrumental single, “Conduit of Change.” This Neo-Classical and Orchestral track has already made waves by winning “Best World Music Song” at the World Songwriting Awards (WSA) in Australia for Fall 2024, marking an amazing achievement for the composer, who continues to mesmerize the audience with his emotional composition.

The sought-after accolade, delivered by panelist Mrs. Amee Warren on January 8, marks the first time Furtick has ever received an award for one of his orchestral pieces. It is also his first time earning any spot at the WSA, let alone taking home the top prize in this category. Furtick has been composing music for over 20 years now, and he continually evolves, introducing new ideas to his sound, while staying true to his creative roots. He also started producing back in 2005 and, to date, has created more than 400 instrumental compositions, not only exploring classical music, but also diving into other influences, ranging from hip-hop to electronica and so much more. Still, Neo-classical music has a very special place in his art, and his new song, “Conduit of Change” is a perfect example of this. His style blends a love of old music with modern film-score sounds and beyond. By drawing on influences like Arvo Pärt, Hans Zimmer, and John Williams, Furtick crafts orchestral pieces that both pay homage to classical music and embrace new ways of telling stories through sound. With such a huge range of expressiveness, no lyrics are needed!

Though he is really fond of the timeless charm of his collection of vinyl records, Furtick is also inspired by film scores and motion picture soundtracks from every era, and you can clearly hear it in his work. He is someone who has a deep love of scores and instrumental music, and he’s always eager to create a fascinating mix of old and new. This aesthetic gives “Conduit of Change” its unique spirit and mood. The audience can expect a smooth journey led by gentle piano notes, and uplifting melodies, with a very diverse instrumental range. At its very core, the composition’s name, “Conduit of Change,” reflects its goal: to connect the past and future through music in a way that feels both fresh and familiar.

Winning “Best World Music Song” at the World Songwriting Awards is a major step for Furtick, who is delighted and touched by the recognition on a deep personal level, never taking the support of the audience and the industry for granted. In past editions, he has never even placed as a top-ten finalist, which makes this victory even more outstanding for him, showcasing his ongoing artistic growth. The WSA is known for shining a light on talented music composers from all over the world, and it is a big deal that Furtick’s work stood out among a field of strong entries. Mrs. Amee Warren, the WSA panelist who shared the news, praised “Conduit of Change” for its emotion and rich arrangement, which is ambitious, yet seamless and enticing from the get-go.

“I was overjoyed when I got the email about my win,” Furtick says. “I have been composing music for two decades, and this is my very first award for an orchestral song. It is a dream come true. I feel grateful that people have found meaning in ‘Conduit of Change.’ I hope this brings more listeners to my work and encourages others who have old passions or new ideas to keep creating.”

Today, Furtick continues to share his music and style through all kinds of projects, from short films to podcasts and even background music for local businesses. Whether he is composing for a big production or a small personal project, his purpose is to bring out the soul of the story, even when there aren’t any lyrics to speak of. That mindset rings true in “Conduit of Change.” Each note aims to reflect the mix of reflection and hope that many people feel as they face big life moments.

In addition to celebrating his new award, Furtick has another piece of news to share: he recently opened a recording studio - a facility known as “Studio B.” For years, Studio B was his personal creative space, and now, it is open to anyone looking for a well-rounded studio to create music, podcasts, scores, and more. By opening Studio B, Furtick aims to support the music community in North Mississippi, including Booneville and Tupelo.

In the days ahead, Furtick will continue to share “Conduit of Change” with audiences around the world. He also plans to work on future projects that fuse classical music with modern production. Looking to the future, Furtick hopes his work will reach fans of all backgrounds, whether they are local neighbors or listeners on the other side of the globe.

To conclude, Furtick’s 20-year journey has led to a high point with this first orchestral award. “Conduit of Change” stands as proof that vision, heart, and dedication can open new paths in the music world. With an impressive catalog of compositions, the opening of Studio B, and a brand-new win from the World Songwriting Awards, Furtick is poised to reach more people than ever before.

Find out more and connect:

Reginald Furtick Studio B 107 Smith Drive Booneville, MS 38829 1(855)966-4789 Cell: 662-650-0751

Studio B Booking Inquiries: https://pocketsuite.io/book/studiob

.

[ear-worthy]

What Five Award-Winning Indie Podcasts Are Up To Right Now

In July, 25 independent podcasts won the Ear Worthy Podcast awards for indie podcasts. These intrepid podcasters act as creator, writer, producer, sound engineer, I.T. troubleshooter, researcher, host, distribution pro, marketing guru, public relations professional, and, most important of all, financial backer for the podcast.

In short, they do it all for their podcast.

Here are some key updates on some of the award winners.

If you haven't listened to these independent podcasts, I urge you to check them out by clicking the link in the section about the podcast.

The Life Shift focuses on candid conversations with people about the pivotal moments that changed their lives forever. The podcast highlights life-altering moments and humanizes the struggles and triumphs through them all. This podcast was also the winner of Best Indie Podcast Of The Year.

Host Matt Gilhooly has developed a bonus episode that recaps the final statements from episodes 101 - 110, where guests reflect on what they would say to themselves before their life-shift moment and offer advice to those going through similar experiences. These conversations are raw, personal, and deeply inspiring.

Surfing Corporate, which won as Best Workplace Podcast Of The Year, helps listeners navigate the corporate waters, and surf the hell out of them, and "all without throwing fellow employees to the sharks or promising your firstborn to Satan. It CAN be done," according to the co-hosts Aileen Merciel & Glenda Pacanins.

Aileen and Glenda are ready to launch their new season on September 18th. Listeners can look forward to episodes where the co-hosts sit down with Kristi Coulter, former Amazon executive and author of Exit Interview: The Life and Death of My Ambitious Career.

Kristi Coulter pulls back the curtain on the high-pressure, high-stakes culture inside one of the world's most influential companies. In another episode, Aileen and Glenda challenge the traditional view of categorizing bosses as either good or bad, focusing instead on those who embody both traits.

Leaders who can be inspiring and brilliant, but also mean and volatile. Join them as they explore the psychology behind these unpredictable corporate characters.

Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever-- is the winner of the Best Film History Podcast Of The Year. Each episode focuses on a film, director or theme and brings in experts to discuss its history, politics and influences. In the latest episode, host Ayesha Khan slips into the wayback machine to discuss Robert Duncan Milne, who is a lost pioneer of science fiction literature. Host Khan takes a huge jump back to the end of the 19th century and a side step to science fiction literature rather than film.

In the many stories Milne wrote he included themes of time travel, alien life, teleportation, cryogenic preservation, remote surveillance and much more. Think Jules Verne, yet sadly not as well known as the author of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.

"Fine" Dining is the hilarious search for the most mediocre chain restaurant in America. Host Michael Ornelas hits popular spots like IHOP, Texas Roadhouse, & Chili's to find the perfectly average 5-out-of-10 "fine" dining experience."

And now, it’s burger time. Septemburger is Fine Dining’s earnest attempt to find something actually great by pitting 24 burgers from eight different restaurants against each other in a single-elimination tournament. The contenders? Only the finest in fast-casual: Shake Shack, Steak ‘n Shake, Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, Whataburger, In-N-Out, Culver’s, Rally’s, and White Castle. Listeners can even get in on the action by submitting their own Septemburger bracket by September 10th for a chance to win $500!The Septemburger series kicked off on September 4th and will run throughout the month, with new episodes dropping every week. Get ready for a burger battle like no other, and don’t forget to follow along on social media using the hashtag #Septemburger2024.

6 Degrees Of Cats is the world’s #1 (and only) cat-themed culture, history and science podcast. Join cat worshiper Amanda B. as she investigates these and other hard hitting questions with a diversity of guest experts from across the globe.

Right now, host Amanda B. AKA Captain Kitty is preparing for the new season in late fall. But fear not, cat lovers. 6 Degrees Of Cats has a Substack page that has regular posts called The Captain's Log. Check out these twice-monthly posts and podcast archives to find out the answers to deep-seated cat questions, including their role in history, culture, and our constant struggle to figure out: "What is my cat thinking?"

This review is part of an ongoing series of reviews, recommendations, and essays about Indie podcasters -- their craft, their challenges, and the critical role they play in podcasting. These entrepreneurs display skills as disparate as hosting, sound production, graphic design, scriptwriting, interviewing, marketing genius, and financial watchdog. They are the heart and soul of podcasting.

[stageyrebecca]

Review: RENT at New Theatre Peterborough ★★★★

Written by guest reviewer Liam. Gifted in exchange for honest review.

Landmark Theatres’ new production of RENT, directed by Paul Jepson, has started its short tour at Peterborough New Theatre. RENT is a rock opera, adapted loosely from Puccini's La Boheme by Jonathan Larson and Billy Aronson, begins at Christmas Eve 1991 and shows us snapshots of a year in the lives of a group of friends in Manhattan's Alphabet City in the early 1990s.

The ensemble piece is led by Jack Reitman (Mark Cohen), Luke Friend (Roger), Evita Khrime (Mimi), Cameron Bernard Jones (Tom Collins), Kyle Richardson (Angel), Alicia Corrales (Maureen), Athena Collins (Joanne) and Myles Hart (Benny), who make up the eclectic mix of friends from filmmakers to drag queens and lawyers. With its anthemic score, RENT shows us the AIDS epidemic and social conflicts go on to impact the lives of this group through New Year and up to Christmas of the next year. The cast is rounded out by a star ensemble consisting of Kelliana Jay, Alex Okoampa, Edward Bullingham, Alexandra Brighouse, Max Mirza, Dylan Andrews and Olivia-Faith Kamau.

The work of the creative team, with direction by Paul Jepson, movement and choreography by Lucie Pankhurst, musical direction by Mark Crossland, set & costume design by award-winning Amanda Stooley, lighting by Andy Purves and sound by Alistair Penman, all combined very effectively into what felt like a fresh and exciting production of the widely loved show.

The standout on the production side was Susan Luciani’s film direction, which at various points throughout was used to accentuate already highly emotional points in the show. In particular, this hit me hard during the reprise of I’ll Cover You, which reduced me to tears, and was led by both Richardson as Angel, and Bernard Jones as Collins.

Speaking more of performances, in what is a very strong cast, additional standouts were Athena Collins (Joanne), Alicia Corrales (Maureen), and Jack Reitman (Mark).

Collins brought a remarkable amount of frustration and caring and humour to her role as Joanne; her voice was so beautiful and rich, which I was impressed by given the rigour of a role like Joanne. A particular highlight of the show was Collins’ work with Alicia Corrales as Maureen in Take Me or Leave Me, which showcased both performers emotionally and vocally. Collins’ chemistry continued to shine throughout the show as her work alongside Reitman in Tango Maureen. Both actors were terrifically funny, and did a great job of conveying the exasperation and irritation they each felt with their relationships with Maureen.

I was a huge fan of Corrales’ performance of Maureen’s Over the Moon, which featured a terrific piece of costuming from Amanda Stooley, combined fantastically with some really precise and comedic movement that had me in stitches laughing.

There were terrific performances across the board from the ensemble, particularly Dylan Andrews’ heartwrenching singing in Will I, where he expresses the fears of his character, a man living with HIV, of the disease robbing him of his dignity before he passes away. Some other particularly good moments for me from the ensemble included Max Mirza’s repeated, deeply “Noo Yawk” accented renditions of “Christmas bells are ringing” across the show and Alexandra Brighouse’s many moments popping up in voicemails.

Though I have highlighted individual moments, the level of quality from every single performance was so high. The moment that best showcased the strength of the ensemble in this show was, probably unsurprisingly, Rent's show-stopping number, Seasons of Love. This beautiful song really drives home the importance of centring the people you love in your life during your time with them, especially as sung by this absolutely stellar cast.

Previously, I’ve overlooked RENT, but I’m thrilled to say that since walking out of the auditorium, I now definitely consider myself a “Rent-Head”! It finally struck me watching it this time that RENT is a truly vital piece of theatre, and that even though certain aspects of its plot may have aged out of relevance (thanks to miraculous advances in the treatments available for people living with HIV and/or AIDS) the underlying message of valuing those close to you and making sure they know how loved they are is as timeless as any message I’ve ever experienced with a show.

Landmark Theatres’ RENT is a wonderful production of the modern classic musical, and given how fresh of a take it feels on the material, and to allow more people to see this astounding collection of performances, I would love to see this production get some further life following its short tour.

You can catch RENT here at New Theatre Peterborough until Saturday 29 June and at the Queen’s Theatre in Barnstaple, from 3 to 7 July 2024. It will be thrilling to see what show Landmark might consider tackling next.

Photo credit to Louise Waldron.